British expats returning from Spain slammed for dumping their dogs

British expats leaving Spain are being slammed over abandoning their pet dogs.

British expats packing up and leaving Spain are being heavily criticised for abandoning their dogs when they return to the home country. One Spanish supporter of a local animal rescue shelter is hitting out at Britons who arrive in Spain, get a dog or dogs and simply dump them when they decide to go back to the UK.

Antonio Lopez is a supporter of his local dog shelter, and told reporters he’s angry about the way rescued dogs are treated by unsuccessful expats from the UK. Britons, he said, arrive for the sun and cheaper cost of living, get a dog or two and, when the relocation doesn’t work, simply sell up and get out, dumping their so-called family pets on the street or in a local animal shelter.

According to Antonio, this behaviour isn’t rare – it’s now commonplace, perhaps due to British expats deciding to return to the UK because Brexit is threatening their lives in Spain. Just last week, Amee Townsend, founder of the charity Spanish Stray Dogs, posted social media pics of two German Shepherd dogs who’d been dumped and are now in the shelter. They need to stay together and desperately need new owners who’re used to the breed.

Another expat who’d lived in Spain posted she’d seen this behaviour first-hand when a four-year old Yorkshire terrier was abandoned by its British owners just before they returned to the UK. Social media reacted with over 450 comments in the first 20 hours, with a good number of posters calling for the two dogs’ previous owners to be outed and dealt with by British police.